Improvement in harness-saddles



A. GILLIAM. Harness-Saddle.

atented Dec. 25, 1877.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALGERNON GILLIAM, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARNESS-SADDLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,510, dated December 25, 1877; application filed October 10, 1877.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALGERNON GILLIAM, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Harness-Saddles, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists in providing the trees of harness-saddles with hook-shaped studs on their ends, for the purpose of securing the skirts to the tree, and dispensing with the necessity of using screws and other devices,which are liable to become loose, and thus cause the separation of the skirt at critical times.

The stud may be modified in form, provided it is of such shape as to hold the skirt down thereon without assistance but the two forms shown in the drawings are considered the best for ordinary usage.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l represents a perspective view of one end of a tree having the hooked stud thereon; Fig. 2, a sectional view of the same with the skirt attached; Fig. 3, a perspective view of a tree having the stud made in a somewhat different form; Fig. 4, a sectional view of the same.

A represents the metal tree, which may be of any ordinary form and construction, so far as its general features are concerned. B represents a stud, cast upon or firmly secured to the outer side of the tree, near its end, in the recess made to receive the skirt. 0 represents the skirt, having its upper end hooked upon and held by the stud, as shown. In Figs. 1 and 2 the stud is made in the form of an ordinary hook, with the end or nose extending upward, so that the strain upon the skirt, drawing it downward, causes it to look under the hook, which not only receives the strain, but by its nose holds the skirt down, so that its escape while under strain is impossible.

The skirt is applied by simply slipping it on the stud and drawing it downward, and is disengaged by a reverse operation.

In order the more efi'ectually to hold the skirt, the body or shank of the hook should be upright, and square at the upper corner, so that the skirt cannot unhook without first being thrown outward. When the end of the skirt is covered by the top piece of the saddle,

its escape is impossible; but, as a precautionary measure, the screw by which the top piece is held and the parts of the saddle united may be passed through the skirt, as shown, to prevent it from sliding upward on the tree.

The stud represented in Figs. 3 and 4 has its nose extended downward instead of upward, and has above it, behind its nose, a shoulder, at, having an inclined top and an upper side, which is square or perpendicular to the face of the tree. The skirt to be used on this stud is made with an opening slightly elongated, and is applied by slipping it over the nose of the hook, and then sliding it upward, and pressing it down over the stud, in the manner shown in Fig. 4, in which it will be seen that the opening is filled by the stud, and that while the top side of the stud receives the strain the nose holds the skirt from escaping. By inclining or notching the top of the stud, in the manner shown, the application of a thick and heavy skirt is permitted with ease, and without bending or flexing it.

As before stated, the two requirements of my invention are, that the stud shall both receive the strain of the skirt and prevent it from rising and escaping, audit is manifest that its form may be varied while retaining these features.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim- 1. A saddle-tree provided with a rigid hookshaped stud at its lower end, to receive and hold the end of the skirt, as shown and d': scribed.

2. A saddle tree having its end provided with a rigid stud, having a lateral nose or lip at its top, whereby it is adapted to receive and hold down the skirt below the lower rivet or fastening, as shown.

3. The saddle-tree having at or near its lower end the stud B, with the downwardly-extending nose and the top shoulder a, substantially as shown and described.

ALGERN ON GILLIAM.

Witnesses:

P. T. DODGE, W. W. DODGE. 

